ICC lawyer: Arrest warrant vs. Dela Rosa should be served in secret

The arrest warrant reportedly issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa should be carried out by law enforcement authorities in secret, ICC assistant to counsel Atty. Kristina Conti said on Wednesday.

Conti explained that the primary consideration is whether the warrant can be effectively implemented, emphasizing that secrecy maximizes its chances.

“The first consideration there is whether the warrant can be implemented or not,” she said. “It’s about maximizing the chances.”

She noted that the ICC made a slight change in its regulations, allowing the application for a warrant to default to secrecy, though it still follows its usual practice.

Conti made the statement in response to questions on why the ICC has not confirmed whether an arrest warrant has indeed been issued against Dela Rosa.

The issue emerged after Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla claimed over the weekend that he has an unofficial copy of the ICC warrant stored on his phone.

While both the ICC and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have yet to confirm the warrant’s existence, Remulla has stood by his statement, calling it his personal “scoop.”

The DOJ, for its part, has said that the Philippine government will comply if the ICC issues a valid warrant, explaining that the state can either extradite or surrender Dela Rosa to the tribunal depending on the situation.

Although there is no known active case lodged specifically against Dela Rosa, former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV previously claimed that the senator and four other high-ranking police officials were named as suspects in the ICC’s probe into the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.

During former President Rodrigo Duterte’s term, Dela Rosa served as chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and led the controversial anti-drug campaign that resulted in the deaths of thousands of suspected drug users and pushers.

Official government records placed the death toll at around 6,200, but human rights groups claim that as many as 30,000 people may have been killed, citing unreported and related slayings.

The camp of Senator Dela Rosa has maintained that it has not received any official communication or confirmation from the ICC regarding the alleged warrant.